Along the way
by Daisy5
Summary: Sequel to 'Stumble and Fall' "How did I get from being the scourge of Europe to having Wesley Wyndam Pryce roll his eyes at me like I'm a child? I fell head over heels for Cordelia Chase and nothing has ever been the same since"


Title: Along the way.  
  
Author: Daisy  
  
Email: e.large@talk21.com  
  
Pairing: Cordelia and Angel  
  
Rating: R  
  
Content: Fluffy cutsie goodness.  
  
Spoilers: nope ridiculously AU now.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon &  
  
David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.  
  
Distribution: You want it, you got it. But be a peach and let me know.  
  
Feedback: Is hungered for in an unhealthy way.  
  
Authors note: Tis the sequel to 'Stumble and Fall'. *--* indicates Angel narrating . NC17 version should be up at the wonderful Nothing Fancy C/A archive soon.  
  
Dedication: For Gabby who cheered me on and waited (im)patiently for this story. ***  
  
"OK, I have a question Angel."  
  
"What's on your mind Gunn?"  
  
"Why is Emily wearing a pair of pants on her head?"  
  
"Because she couldn't get the shoe to stay put."  
  
"And the Spiderman pyjamas and fairy wings?"  
  
"I like to think she has a creative spirit Wes."  
  
"Your daughter is one strange little person dude."  
  
*Much like her mother.  
  
You tell Cordelia I said that and I'll hunt you down.*  
  
"Don't you two have girlfriends to be irritating? "  
  
"What? We can't want to spend time with our favourite vampire and his first born?"  
  
"Gunn...."  
  
"They've abandoned us in favour of shopping with Cordelia. Which is actually your fault Angel."  
  
"How's that?"  
  
"She only kidnaps Katherine and Fred when you've done something to piss her off. What did you do this time?"  
  
"What makes you think...."  
  
  
  
"Angel, we've known you and Cordy for a long time. We had front row seats at the love story of the century, we own the 'I survived Angel and Cordelia falling in love' T- shirts and key chains. Give us a little credit."  
  
  
  
"What did she tell you Wes?"  
  
"She may have screamed something about an overprotective arrogant pig weasel on her way out of the hotel. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you're said pig weasel."  
  
*What the hell is a pig weasel? It's not a good thing is it? Damn.*  
  
"Everything is fine. Gunn, how are you and Fred getting on in Cordy's old apartment?"  
  
  
  
"The ghost still hates me and don't change the subject. We don't get our girlfriends back until you beg for forgiveness for whatever you did or said to make Barbie mad."  
  
*Why does everyone automatically assume I'm the one in the wrong?  
  
That was a rhetorical question, you didn't actually have to answer me.  
  
Jeez, do you people keep lists of all the dumb things I've done in the past or something? You do?  
  
Oh.*  
  
"Being Joe Stoic isn't gonna get you very far man. You can't brood us out of the hotel anymore."  
  
  
  
"I wasn't being stoic. I was thinking. Thinking is entirely different to brooding."  
  
"Sure Angel, whatever you say."  
  
*You know I used to command respect and instil fear into all those that crossed my path back in the day. How did I get from being the scourge of Europe to having Wesley Wyndam Pryce roll his eyes at me like I'm a child?  
  
I fell head over heels for Cordelia Chase and nothing has ever been the same since. Thank god. I never thought my life could be this good. I'm not meant to have any of this, I'm a vampire, undead. I should probably be stalking around a graveyard somewhere not having a beer with friends. Brothers. I have a woman that loves me and my demon completely, a daughter that's currently running around the lounge on unsteady little legs and another child on the way.  
  
Which brings us rather nicely to where Cordy left off last time she spoke to you doesn't it?*  
  
"So we're brothers huh?"  
  
"Shut up Wes."  
  
***  
  
Here we go again.  
  
Angel swore under his breath and cursed the people of Fisherprice for making their building blocks with such deadly pointed corners. The painful stomach wound he'd received only hours before paled in comparison to the agony that was trampling blindly over his daughters toys in the middle of the night. The vampire rubbed his hand over his face and limped carefully across the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. He was having the most wonderful dream of a deliciously naked and flexible Cordelia Chase when he was abruptly pulled out of his much needed slumber by said flexible diva shouting at him from the kitchen. Pulling on a pair of sweats he'd panicked for a moment that something was wrong but the tone Cordelia had used wasn't the kind that foretold of danger to all. Only possibly to him. So he was in no real rush to meet his firing squad right.  
  
Angel tried to figure out any possible reason Cordelia had for shouting at him in the middle of the night but his sleep addled brain could only come up with the fact that she was obviously insane. Who on earth wakes a sleeping vampire?  
  
  
  
Cordelia Chase, that's who.  
  
She was currently pacing a groove into the kitchen floor and having a one sided argument with Lorne. Angel ignored the smiling empath demon's cheery greeting and dropped heavily down into a kitchen chair, letting his head fall onto the table top with a thud. He was too tired to sit up and make with the nice talk right now.  
  
"If this has anything to do with the end of the world I vote we deal with it in the morning." Angel mumbled into the wooden table.  
  
"You!" Cordelia pointed an accusatory finger at him, her voice was loud and unnaturally shrill making the vampire wince.  
  
"I'm sorry Cor." The vampire muttered sleepily. He'd found in his time with Cordelia that it was just best to apologise even if you weren't sure what it was you were apologising for. Granted it very rarely worked but Angel was barely conscious enough to think it through.  
  
"You're meant to be a vampire! VAMPIRE!" Cordelia flailed her arms around madly trying to make sense of what little Lorne had told her moments ago.  
  
"You woke me up to tell me I'm a vampire?" Angel propped his chin up on his hand. This was a whole new level of confusion for him.  
  
"Yes! No! Undead!" The Seer was equally befuddled.  
  
"Ooook. Cordy, sweetheart, have you hit your head recently?" Angel asked her carefully. He shot Lorne a nervous glance when he heard the green demon chuckle.  
  
"Are you or are you not a vampire Angel?" Cordelia ignored his last comment. She tapped her foot on the floor, her hands defiantly on her hips, waiting for an answer.  
  
"Cordy if you've only just figured that out then we're in trouble here...."  
  
  
  
"Are you?!" Cordelia's eyebrows shot so far up her forehead Angel wasn't sure if they would ever come down again.  
  
"Yes, I'm a vampire." He nodded slowly, things weren't getting any clearer in his head even though he was starting to wake up fully.  
  
"SEE!" Cordelia turned to Lorne, Angel was grateful the heat was off him.  
  
"And yet sugar plum you're....."  
  
"VAMPIRE!" Her voice echoed around the hotel, Angel dearly hoped she hadn't woken Emily up. There was only room for one insane Chase woman in the kitchen right now.  
  
"OK, you need to calm down sweetheart...." Angel stood up and grasped her shoulders gently. He cradled her face in his hand, rubbing his thumb softly across the smooth skin of her jaw. ".....now take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."  
  
"You..." Cordelia poked a perfect fingernail into his chest with every word she said. "....and your lore defying sperm have got me pregnant again."  
  
It took a few moments for that piece of news to sink in.  
  
"But...but we haven't been anywhere near Pylea....." Angel blinked dumbly. "So you can't.....I'm a vampire!"  
  
"That's what I was trying to get Lorne to understand!"  
  
"How can you be pregnant?"  
  
"Well my little cinnamon danish when a boy and a girl fall in love they do this thing called sex, that's when...."  
  
"Lorne you're really not helping." Cordelia silenced the amused demon with a glare, spoiling his fun.  
  
"How is this possible? Emily was an alternative dimension phenomenon, I can't....Hey! Who have you sle..."  
  
  
  
"You even think about finishing that sentence buster and I'll be wearing those testicles of yours as earrings!"  
  
"OK." Lorne rolled his eyes and stood up, these people made him crazy. "The rate you two figure things out we're going to be here all week and in case you two crazy kids have forgotten there's a wedding here tomorrow night." Lorne looked at the clock on the wall. "Make that tonight. " The host of Caritas pushed the soon to be married couple down into seats. "Now, Cordelia, you are indeed pregnant again, your aura is screaming it at me and of course you're the father Angel, and quite frankly I'm tempted to smack you upside the head for even considering you're not. Actually I think I'll do that anyway." Lorne's hand hit the back of Angel's sleep muzzled head with a satisfying thwack. "Idiot." He muttered mostly to himself. "This isn't really so hard to believe is it? I mean, the bundle of cuteness upstairs rather proves that this is indeed possible."  
  
"But...." Angel brow nit together in deep thought, not registering the fact that his friend had just smacked him.  
  
"Angel you've gone paler than usual...you're not gonna throw up are you?" Cordelia's initial shock was slowly fading, gradually being replaced by the feeling of contentment she had when she was pregnant with Emily. But before she could bathe in a warm glow of happiness Cordelia needed to find out how Angel felt about it all and 'but' just wasn't going to cut it. His lack of response was starting to worry her. "Angel?"  
  
"How far along is she?" Was all the vampires brain could get his mouth to say.  
  
"I'm an empathic demon, not an OBGYN Angel." Lorne tutted at him.  
  
  
  
"Oh...right.......We're gonna have another baby....Em's gonna have little brother or sister.... Wow....my sperm rules!!" Angel suddenly grinned stupidly, his normally dark eyes lighting up with joy.  
  
Cordelia let out a surprised eep when her fiancé plucked her effortlessly out of her seat and settled her in his lap, she opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought about his sperm but was abruptly silenced by his lips pressing softly against hers. The seer let out a soft sigh and snaked her hands over his broad shoulders, her fingers playing idly with the short hair at the nape of his neck. Cordelia felt a contented purr rumble through Angels chest and shifted her bottom slightly to see if his usual reaction to having her siting on his lap had reared its head. Yep, there it was. Angel growled at her movement, his hand moving up her thigh of its own accord. An annoyed cough brought the pair back to earth, forcing them to end the kiss that was becoming increasingly passionate.  
  
"Not that I don't enjoy the Cordelia and Angel grope fest but spare a thought for the single guy here OK? All the sexual tension you two work up is enough to make a demon feel very alone and unloved." Lorne scowled at them.  
  
"Sorry Lorne." Cordelia felt an uncharacteristic blush spreading across her cheeks. She remembered Angels very delayed response and thumped his shoulder.  
  
"Do you think we could go five minutes without someone beating me?" Angel groused good-naturedly, his arms wrapping around Cordelia.  
  
"You had me worried dumbass, when a girl tells you she's pregnant a stony silence is one of the last things she wants to hear." She laid her head happily on his chest, threading her hand through his where it was resting protectively over her belly.  
  
"Sorry baby, it was just a bit of a surprise. I never thought we'd be able to have more children....it's so...wow." Angel kissed the top of her head, he closed his ears off to all sounds trying to seek out the tell tale sign of the babies heart beating inside its mother. Finally he heard it, the sweet tub thud was small and faint but it was there. He had to concentrate to hear it but it was there.  
  
"Can you...?" Cordelia automatically knew what he was doing.  
  
"I can." Angel murmured and trailed a path of cool kisses across the bare flesh of shoulder.  
  
"OK, I've had enough schmaltz for one night." Lorne sighed and stood up. "I'm going to my very empty bed before these public displays of affection force me to throw up every seabreeze I've ever had." He smiled letting them know he wasn't really serious. Well maybe a little serious. "Congrats kids." With a wink and a swirl of tangerine silk Lorne left the couple to themselves.  
  
"Are you OK?" Angel realised he hadn't asked Cordelia how she felt about it.  
  
"I'm....I'm actually kinda wonderful right now." She smiled at him, a pure one hundred watt Cordelia Chase smile that had lit up even the darkest periods of Angel's life. "We're having another baby Angel...."  
  
***  
  
"OK, enough of the warm fuzzies, when do we get to the crazy vampire sex?"  
  
"Gunn, your interest in my sex life is disturbing."  
  
"Is there something you want to tell us Gunn...."  
  
"Ha ha. You're a funny man Wes. It must be a riot when you ex-Watchers get together."  
  
"It's like Mardi Gras with tweed."  
  
"Thank you for that frightening mental image."  
  
"Is it OK with you women if I get on with the story?"  
  
"We'd much rather know why Cordy's mad at you. C'mon Angel, what did you do this time?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Bullshi..."  
  
"Language Wes. Small ears are listening."  
  
"Sorry Angel, don't listen to your uncle Wes Em....Emily sweetheart my glasses are not a chew toy."  
  
*Thank you for the distraction Em, I owe you one. So, where were we? Right, I'm gonna be a father again. As my wife would say....  
  
Go team!  
  
My wife. Cordelia's my wife. I'm the luckiest man...pire in the world.*  
  
"Oh god, you're going to tell them the wedding story aren't you? When did you turn into such a sickening romantic?"  
  
"Gunn do you want to wait outside?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then be quiet."  
  
***  
  
*The wedding of the century.*  
  
The gentle glow of candles and twinkling fairy-lights softened the edges of the courtyard of the Hyperion, a light evening breeze rustled leaves and dispersed the sweet aroma of honeysuckle. The night was warm and welcoming, filled with the laughter of friends and an excited buzz of anticipation.  
  
Lorne smiled as he watched Angel shift nervously from foot to foot, occasionally fiddling with the collar of his shirt.  
  
"You OK there Angelcakes?" The Host shooed away the vampires fumbling hands and straightened his collar for him.  
  
"Do you think I should do another patrol around the area, just to make sure...." Angel's said distractedly, his eyes searching what little he could see of the lobby for any sign of Cordelia.  
  
"In that suit? Angel, brown eyes will kill me if you get dirt anywhere near that fine piece of tailoring. By the way it's nice to see you haven't strayed from the whole black on black theme you like so much. It's in no way inappropriate for a wedding." Lorne fussed with the yellow rose on his friends lapel until Angel batted him away with irritation.  
  
"But..."  
  
"There's no way Wolfram and Hart are going to make an appearance tonight sugarplum, the hotel is protected with so many spells even I had trouble getting in, and those big guys you've got guarding out front, not much with the conversation are they?" That was a brisk frisk down Lorne would have trouble repressing. Even with his assurances Angel still looked tense. It occurred to the brightly dressed demon that it wasn't the troublesome lawyers that the vampire was fretting about.  
  
"She'll be down any minute now, you know how she likes to make a grand entrance. And it's traditional for the groom to wait." Lorne patted him companionably on the back.  
  
"Lorne, exactly what part of this wedding is traditional?" Angel relaxed slightly, a lopsided smile creeping over his face. "Would it be the handful of guests, the priest that isn't entirely human, or maybe it's the vampire groom that has no last name?"  
  
"Well if you say it like that of course it's going to sound weird." Lorne grinned back at him.  
  
"Hey man, you don't think Barbie's changed her mind do you?" Gunn sauntered over to them, like Angel he looked uncomfortable in such a formal suit, which was a shame, Lorne thought, 'cos it sure looks comfortable on him. Emily was wriggling in the black mans arms, happily singing a tuneless song and clapping her hands with glee. Angel scowled at his unhelpful comment and reached out for Emily but Gunn shook his head quickly.  
  
"Nuh uh, I've been threatened with a fate worse then death by your wife to be if you even get a speck of drool on that suit, dude I know what Cordelia can do with just a tranq gun, I ain't risking it." Gunn blew a raspberry on the little girls hand eliciting a squeal of laughter that made Angels still heart soar with love.  
  
"Suddenly I need to be on the other side of the courtyard." Gunn said looking over Angel's shoulder and walking away at a quick pace to where Wesley was chatting to the priest. Angel frowned at his hasty departure, confused by his friends actions, but his reasons became dreadfully apparent when a familiar voice babbled in his ear.  
  
"Oh don't you look handsome Angel, I'm not sure about all the black though, it would have been nice to inject a little colour into this happy occasion, but I guess Lorne brings enough colour for everyone huh? Cordelia's taking her time isn't she? Do you think I should go upstairs and see if she needs some help? No, I'm sure Fred has a handle on it. Is this all the guests that are coming? What about those people that Cordy went to school with, Bunty was it? Oh doesn't Gunn look the sweetest with Emily! Such a pretty little girl, you might not want to let her dress herself quite yet though Angel, sweet little girls like Em should be in pink bows and silk ribbons. Not Batman pyjamas." Wesley's girlfriend finally took a breath.  
  
"Hello Katherine." Angel sighed wearily, he felt his eye starting to tic. He was happy that Wesley was happy....he just couldn't understand why it was Katherine that made him happy. Angel had the vague feeling that he'd just had a whole conversation without uttering a word, which would be OK if she didn't insist on firing questions at him constantly. Katherine made Fred look positively laconic in comparison.  
  
"Are you OK, you look pale. Well, paler. Are you nervous? When my brother got married, of course Tom married in a church and not in his back garden but that's besides the point, what I'm saying is that he was so nervous before hand he fainted just before he was meant to say 'I do'. Are you going to faint? Oh, Wes told me about the good news, about Cordy being pregnant again, congratulations! Although I have a few questions, I know I'm not up on all the 'vampire' rules and regulations stuff but I'm pretty sure undead people can't have children....but then that doesn't explain Emily does it....yeah, we should probably have a chat about all that. And unless you guys are planning on having a herd you might want to think about using protection. Hey, your eye's doing that weird twitch thing again. What's up with that?" Katherine squinted at him. Angel shot a pleading look at the uncharacteristically quiet Pylean next to him, with an amused smile Lorne wrapped an arm around the petite woman's shoulders, giving her a friendly squeeze.  
  
"Hey kitty kat, did I ever tell you about the time I met Donnie AND Marie, let me tell ya, that one's a doozie...." Lorne winked at the relieved vampire and steered Katherine across the small garden.  
  
Angel let out an unneeded breath then promptly sucked it back in again when he noticed his goddess in ivory silk standing only a few metres away. The rest of the world disappeared as Cordelia smiled and walked slowly towards him. Her dress was simple, classic and sexy as hell. Just like the woman that wore it. She carried yellow roses in her hand, her hair falling in soft chocolate brown waves over her shoulders.  
  
"Having fun with Katherine?" Cordelia's asked him quietly, her eyes sparkling with amusement.  
  
"Are you sure I can't kill her?" Angel's whispered back, his lips brushing across the delicate shell of her ear making Cordelia shiver deliciously.  
  
"I'm pretty sure." Cordelia murmured huskily.  
  
"Do you have any idea how beautiful you look tonight?" Angel said with such longing it made her blush.  
  
"You're such a smooth talker...." She ran her hands over his suit jacket and took a moment to look him up and down. Hooo boy, she thought to herself. "....What do you say we blow this gig and have a party for two upstairs?" Angel growled when her tongue snaked out and caressed her glistening bottom lip.  
  
"And disappoint these good people by not giving them a wedding? We'd be lynched. I've been lynched before, it's not fun." Angel grasped her smaller hand in his, it took all his control not to tug this vision into his arms and run his hands over each and every part of her.  
  
"Well then, we'd better give the people what they demand." Cordelia beamed at him and pulled on his hand, gesturing over to where the 'priest' was standing on the other side of the courtyard, waiting patiently for the ceremony to begin.  
  
Cordelia realised he wasn't the only one waiting, their friends were standing together, smiling fondly at them. Winifred Burkle, a willowy whirlwind in burgundy, still slightly crazy but with a heart so pure you couldn't help but want to take care of it. Charles Gunn and Wesley Wyndam Pryce, her brothers, both handsome and haunted by their pasts, their heroes without superpowers. Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok clan, resplendent in purple and green, lived his life like he sang, straight from the heart and full colour. A group of outsiders that had never really belonged until they stumbled into each others lives and subsequently found themselves a family whether they wanted it or not.  
  
"So, you feel like getting married?" Angel asked Cordelia once they were standing in front of the priest, their friends gathered around them, all was quiet apart from the sound of Emily talking merrily to her 'Wes' bear in Gunn's strong arms.  
  
"Sure, why not, I don't have anything else to do right now." Cordelia shrugged and beamed at him, her eyes sparkling. She nodded to the priest, letting him know they were ready.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen." He began. "We're here this evening to celebrate the love shared between Angel and Cordelia...."  
  
***  
  
"You didn't call her fat again did you Angel? Is that why she stormed out of here earlier?"  
  
*That's going to haunt me forever isn't it?*  
  
"OK, for the last time Wesley, I didn't call Cordelia fat."  
  
"That's not what Barbie said."  
  
*You guys were there, I didn't call her fat did I? I just mentioned she'd...well...gotten larger in the breast area. That's not calling her fat!*  
  
"It was over a year ago, please tell me she's not still mad at me over it."  
  
"You know how Cordy has a tendency to not let go of things, look how she stills rips the pis...I mean takes the mickey out of you over your insane jealousy about her and..."  
  
"You say his name and you'll be eating through a straw for the next six months Wes."  
  
"Ooook, obviously Cordy's not the only one that can't let go of the past."  
  
"You wanna talk about the past, why don't we discuss a certain brunette slayer you've been visiting recently. Have you told Katherine about your weekly trips to sing sing?"  
  
"I...it's not....we're just....Faith and I aren't....You know what, I think I'll just be quiet and let you get on with the story."  
  
"You're a wise man Wes."  
  
*It was a beautiful ceremony....*  
  
"(cough) Pussy (cough)"  
  
"Last warning Gunn."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
*It was a beautiful ceremony, we exchanged promises and rings in front of our friends, not God. Well, we couldn't really could we? What with me being a vampire and one of our best friends being of a green inclination. In my experience the church frowns upon that sort of thing, so it was a simple, quiet celebration with the people we love. Cordelia looked radiant, she positively glowed all evening.*  
  
"Barbie did look really hot in that dress, it showed off her....assets kinda nicely if you know what I mean."  
  
"You are aware that's the mother of my children you're talking about right?"  
  
"Angel....dude....if you hurt me you'll have Fred to answer to....hey....c'mon man....quit growling......."  
  
*Here's something to keep you occupied while I talk to Gunn about the correct way to talk about a lady.*  
  
***  
  
A moment of insight.  
  
Champagne flowed, good music hummed around the hotel and the company was the best a person could ask for yet Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was a man with a lot on his mind. His dearest friend was once again pregnant by a two hundred and forty something vampire, a demon they had no idea how to kill was due to rise sometime next week and his girlfriend wasn't the woman he dreamt about night after night for the last two months. After Cordelia's flirtation with the dark side and the subsequent stabbing of Lilah Morgan Wesley felt a suffocating guilt build in his chest over his abandonment of the young slayer that was once his responsibility. He wasn't sure who was more shocked when he turned up at the women's prison on visiting day, himself or Faith. It was awkward and tense, painful memories and scars rising to the surface as they stared at each other through the thick murky glass. There was nothing but silence and uncomfortable small talk that first time they sat opposite each other. He'd been back every week since and the realisation of why he had whispered wickedly at the back of his mind.  
  
He mentally shook away any thoughts of a sultry brunette with red lips, he was insane to be even thinking about her like that after what they'd done to each other in the past. Pondering when exactly it was he'd lost his mind the Englishman noticed the annoyed look he was receiving from the eighteen month year old baby girl in his arms. Lost in his thoughts he'd momentarily stopped swaying to the music, something Emily wasn't happy about.  
  
"Sorry Em, just being an idiot again." Wesley kissed her button nose and resumed their slow dance around the lobby. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about demons and slayers and a sweet blonde heart he feared he was going to hurt.  
  
With a smile Wesley watched as Gunn spun Cordelia around as they danced together, the bottom of her silk dress billowing out as her feet left the ground. Her cheeks were flushed with laughter, the ex-watcher could tell just by looking at her that the young woman had never felt more fulfilled in her life. Wesley wished with all his heart that nothing would ever shatter that happiness.  
  
His gaze shifted to the vampire that had brought them all together, Angel was dancing slowly with Fred, his large frame dwarfing her petite one completely. Like his wife Angel's face seemed to be etched in a constant smile, Wesley thanked his enormous brain for finding the super glue for Angel's soul, even though their recent visit from Angelus hadn't been the blood bath they had all imagined it would be they had no desire to see him again.  
  
A surprisingly deep laugh bubbled through the lobby, melting into the music. Lorne was the culprit, laughing heartily at a story Katherine was animatedly telling him. Wesley swallowed the guilt that rose up his throat, pushing it aside for now.  
  
***  
  
"OK, I thought you were telling your story not mine."  
  
"Wesley you're going to have to tell us what's going on sooner or later."  
  
"Angel when did you turn into Mr touchy feely lets talk about our problems guy?"  
  
"Probably around the same time you started sounding like Cordelia."  
  
"Touché."  
  
"Seriously though Wes....."  
  
"Angel just tell them about you and Cordy OK? I'll deal with my stuff when I want."  
  
*Well at least I tried, Cordelia and Fred can stop harping on at me about it now.*  
  
"We better get to the sex soon cos I'm getting bored."  
  
"You just don't learn do you Gunn?"  
  
***  
  
Tony Bennett for two.  
  
Knowing hands smoothed over his chest, manicured nails leaving behind trails of fire across his skin, the cotton of his shirt and the silk of her gown were annoying barriers that kept the vampire from what he wanted. What they both wanted. But clothing was a necessary evil when dancing amongst friends with the woman you'd just married. Cordelia's hands snaked up around Angel's neck, he heard and felt her sigh deeply, a murmur of contentment hungrily swallowed by his still heart. Angel pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, his arms circling her waist and pulling her even closer to his body, his fingers rubbing maddening circles on the small of her back, making her arch into him unconsciously. The music had faded but the pair continued to dance in each others arms, the world contained in the gaze shared between vampire and seer, husband and wife.  
  
It pained Fred to interrupt the newly weds whilst they were so consumed with each other, they had so little time to themselves from day to day, the agency, the mission and an adorable but exhausting daughter monopolised their everyday lives leaving little time for romance. The pretty Texans decision was made for her by her boyfriend.  
  
"Hey, Mr and Mrs Last name still not agreed on, if you could tear yourselves away from each other for five minutes it would be nice." Gunn grinned at the couple, Fred smacked his shoulder lightly, careful not to disturb the little girl she was carrying.  
  
"Where did everyone go?" Cordelia turned in Angel's embrace, unwilling to move away from him completely.  
  
"Wes, Blondie and Lorne just left, they said goodbye but you guys tend to go deaf dumb and blind to anything but each other after a while." Charles Gunn teased them good- naturedly.  
  
"We don't....OK, maybe we do. They weren't mad were they? Did Wesley do that tutting thing he does when he's annoyed?" Cordelia tried to concentrate while her vampire ran a trail of kisses along her left shoulder.  
  
"There was a surprising lack of tuttage, I think English has something on his mind." Gunn shrugged.  
  
"He hasn't started researching for baby related prophecies already is he? We only just found out I'm pregnant this morning, even he can't read that fast." Cordelia frowned, she knew research would have to be done but this was her wedding day for goodness sake.  
  
"Umm, I think it's more woman related actually." Angel paused his exploration of Cordy's shoulder for a moment to surprise them with this particular piece of insight.  
  
"And you know this how?" Cordelia craned her neck around to look at him, a perfect eyebrow quirking upwards at his statement.  
  
"I happen to be very perceptive about that sort of thing."  
  
"Yeah, you're really not sweetheart." The Seer patted him affectionately on his hand. Angel stuck out his tongue at her making both Gunn and Fred roll their eyes at the pair.  
  
"I'll ring him in the morning and find out what's going on." Fred said with an authority garnered from relying on no one but herself while living in a cave for five years. "But right now we'll leave you two to yourselves, I'm sure there are other things you'd much rather be doing then discussing Wesley's love life." She winked at them, maybe I'm spending too much time with Lorne Fred wondered to herself.  
  
"Are you sure you guys don't mind having Em for a couple days?" Cordelia ran her hand through her daughters soft hair, careful not to wake the sleeping child in Fred's arms.  
  
"Of course not. We have an abundance of Disney movies and colouring books to keep us occupied, that is if Uncle Charlie doesn't mind sharing them." Fred shot a glance at her boyfriend who was pouting theatrically at her. "And I promised Dennis that his favourite girl was going to be staying with us. If we disappoint him he'll just take it out on Charles. Again"  
  
"That ghost of yours is a pain in the ass." Gunn frowned and shouldered Emily's bag.  
  
"He's your ghost now, an added extra of moving into the apartment." Cordelia kissed Emily's cheek, smiling when her daughters hands reached out in her sleep searching for her mothers presence. This wasn't the first time Emily had spent the night away from home but it was still difficult for Cordelia to let her go. Especially after the Lilah debacle.  
  
"I think he watches me when I pee." Gunn muttered.  
  
"That's only because you threatened to exorcise him Charles, I can't see why the pair of you can't just play nice. Angel, you never had any problems with Dennis did you?" Fred asked the vampire as he took his turn to say goodbye to his little girl.  
  
"Not really." Angel shrugged, he decided to not tell everyone about the time he's threatened much worse than exorcism to the ghost if he ever watched Cordelia in the bath again. Of course soon after that she had moved into the Hotel with him and it wasn't a problem.  
  
"That's cos the pair of you are dead, everyone knows the dead stick together."  
  
"Sure honey, whatever you say. OK, we're really going now." Winifred Burkle carefully shifted Emily in her arms and half embraced Cordelia, pressing a kiss to the taller woman's cheek and whispering sincerely in her ear. "I'm so happy for you Cordy." Fred grasped her Gunn's hand, ignoring the fact that he was still muttering about the lack of privacy in their new apartment and tugged him to the door. "Have fun guys." She waved at them cheekily then pulled her boyfriend out into the night.  
  
"Did they take the baby seat?" Angel said after a while still staring at the door.  
  
"Gunn put it in the truck earlier."  
  
"And her Wes bear?"  
  
"In the over night bag." Cordelia nodded.  
  
"What about...."  
  
  
  
"She'll be fine Angel, Gunn and Fred are wonderful with her." She turned back to face Angel, her arms resuming there natural place around his waist.  
  
"I guess it's just you and me then huh?" Angel cradled her beaming face in his hands.  
  
"Mmm...whatever will we do to pass the time?" Cordelia murmured wickedly, pressing her body to his like a cat.  
  
"Oh I can think of a one or two things." The vampire purred and swooped her up into his arms, Cordelia laughed loudly as Angel bounded across the lobby and up the stairs two at a time.  
  
***  
  
One or two things.  
  
Cordelia gasped when Angel carried her through the doorway and into their bedroom, a thousand candles glittered around them, casting a warm glow to every corner.  
  
"Wow...when do you have time to do all this..." Cordelia wriggle out of his arms, Angel grudgingly let her go.  
  
"Time is of no consequence to a creature of the night...well, that and Wes and Gunn gave me a hand." The vampire followed her across the room.  
  
"You boys are so sweet." She chuckled and fingered one of the many yellow roses that adorned the room. "So, you wanna watch a movie, play some cards...?" Cordelia asked him playfully, she wasn't surprised when strong hands grasped her shoulders and turned her on her heels, she knew her vampire well. Her hands fisted into his shirt to steady herself at the sudden movement, a wonderfully familiar shiver racing up and down her spin at the pure desire held within his gaze. "Or we could dig out the Monopoly board if ya like...." Was all Cordelia managed to say before Angel's cool lips descended on to hers.  
  
A sigh escaped her lips as Angel kissed her softly, his maddeningly gentle caress was a contradiction to the raw power of his demon, she knew the things Angelus whispered into his ear yet he still managed to kiss her as though she were the most delicate flower. Cordelia rasped her nails over the skin on the back of his neck, something she knew drove him crazy. With a deep growl the vampire begged entry to her mouth to which she couldn't deny him. Would never want to deny him.  
  
Cordelia felt the fine hair on the her arms rise as Angel smoothed his hands down her sides and over her behind, the shift of her gown under the direction of his palms caused her skin to itch with want. With a single kiss he managed to stir up a desire inside of her that left her head spinning and her breath quickening to a hurried frenzy. One kiss and she was his. That was the way it had always been, the way Angel hoped it would always be. Instinctively Angel released her lips from his so she could breathe, his ego doing a merry dance at the sight of her flushed cheeks and the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. Breasts that he had found joy and comfort in, that he had worshipped and left his mark on, breasts that had eased his sorrow and soothed his soul. Breasts he had to see this second.  
  
"I take it Barney videos aren't on the agenda tonight then?" Cordelia hummed with anticipation.  
  
With a carnal smile, an echo of the demon inside, Angel slipped his fingers beneath the thin straps of her ivory dress. He watched entranced as they slid carelessly from her shoulders, revealing the woman he loved, the woman he married, like Venus stepping out of her half shell. His Aphrodite unveiled.  
  
"This will be a purple dinosaur free zone for the next couple of days Cordy. No singing cha-cha'ing bears, no scary dancing tubby aliens and definitely no talking frogs." Angel brushed the back of his knuckles over the tops of Cordelia's breasts, his fingertips skirting across the satin of her strapless bra.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Cordelia rested her hands on the waist of his trousers and nipped at his lips with her teeth, unbuckling his belt without him knowing it. Another searing kiss, his lips bruising hers, claiming once again what was already his. Would always be his. A trail of cool kisses trailed down her neck, his blunt teeth grazing the pale scar where her neck met her shoulder, Cordelia couldn't withhold the moan that bubbled from her throat as Angels tongue snaked out and licked the reminder of her possesion. She felt his strong hands trace over her back, lingering a moment over the tattoo he knew was there, the sun he had worshipped so many nights in this very room. Nimble fingers unbuttoned his shirt, walking the landscape of his chest not caring that the heart held within didn't beat, Cordelia could feel it anyway.  
  
***  
  
Two days to themselves. Two days without the never ending exhaustion of raising a child, paying the bills and saving the world. It was the best honeymoon either of them could have asked for. Angel had asked Cordelia time and time again the week before the wedding if she wouldn't prefer Hawaii, Italy, even Mexico, but the young woman's answer had always been the same. She didn't want to spend a week lying in the sun while the man she married was relegated to the shadows. All Cordelia wanted was a weekend with him, enjoying each other in their home. To her that was paradise. So twenty four hours after they were wed Angel and Cordelia lounged decadently in their bath, in their home, in their city.  
  
"Do you think we should give Fred a call?" Cordelia asked Angel, her voice drowsy from spent passion.  
  
"I called them half an hour ago, Gunn said if we kept ringing every hour on the hour they would adopt Emily as their own and move to Cuba. He called me an insufferably overbearing mother hen. Exactly how much time has he been spending with Wes of late?" Angel soapy hands moved lazily over Cordelia breasts, walking a path his finger knew by heart.  
  
"Probably too much....Am I the only one that gets a vibe off of those two. A sort of....homoerotic buddy cop vibe." Cordelia worked the soap between her hands then blew softly, smiling as a misshapen bubble bobbed across the tiles then burst in a shower of suds.  
  
"That's....disturbing." Angel chuckled, the deep rumbles vibrating through Cordelia's back. She adored how that felt.  
  
"If Gunn weren't so unbelievably in love with Fred and Wesley wasn't having lusty thoughts about little miss homicidal slay girl they'd make a cute couple."  
  
"Homicidal slay...? Faith? You know about that?"  
  
"Duh, of course I do. I know about everything Angel, haven't you learnt that yet?"  
  
  
  
"Cordy..."  
  
"Fine...I heard him on the phone to the prison just after I went all stab happy with Lilah. Add in his irritable broody behaviour over the last few weeks and you've got one very confused rogue demon hunter. And there's only ever one thing that can make a man that distracted...a woman."  
  
"What about Katherine?" Angel said her name like another person would say ebola virus. It wasn't that he didn't like her...he just found the blonde woman excruciatingly irritating.  
  
"Katherine knows something's up, she's an intelligent woman underneath all of that peroxide giggles. She loves him....but no so much that it will destroy her if it ends."  
  
"It's probably best if we keep this to ourselves." Angel rinsed away the soap from her chest but kept his hands possessively over her breasts as though if he let them go they'd run away from him.  
  
"By that you mean 'don't interfere in this Cordy', right?" Cordelia craned her head around to look at him, eyebrows arched with mirth.  
  
"You know me too well." The vampire smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead before she settled back on his chest.  
  
"Better believe it buster. No meddling, I promise. Well, for now at least." Cordelia could only watch Wesley confused over his love life for so long before she had to interfere. She loved him too much to see him in pain and not help him. "I think we should invest in a bigger tub." She wondered out loud as she stretched her legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankle and propping them up on the edge of the tub. "Don't you think?"  
  
"Huh?" Angel realised she had asked him something but he'd been so enthralled by watching the thin trickles of water cascading down her long legs that his brain had trouble catching up with the rest of him.  
  
"Tub, too small. We should buy a bigger one." Cordelia told him again, wiggling her toes up and down, red toenails glimmering in the soft light.  
  
"I don't know, I kinda like being all shmushed up with you in here, always have done. As long as I have a naked and wet Cordelia in my arms I'm happy." The vampire said soppily, his arms circling around her waist while he buried his face into her neck, kissing the small scratch he'd put there last night.  
  
"So easy to please." Cordelia chuckled, poking at Emily's rubber-ducky that had decided to join them in the water. It bobbed around idly next to Angel's thigh, the yellow a bright contrast to the pale of the vampire's skin.  
  
"I'm a simple vampire." Angel murmured, his hands gliding over the gentle curve of her belly finally coming to rest over the apex of her thighs.  
  
"You're an insatiable vampire is what you are.....mmmm." Cordelia moaned. Hands gripped, smoothed, teased. Skilled fingers dipped, grazed, filled her. Pleasure so intense she forgot to breath ripped through her body, making her hands shake as Cordelia looped her arms up around Angel's neck, arching towards his touch. Not enough yet too much at the same time. Her skin prickled, a heat so enveloping it felt like it she was burning up from inside out, spreading through her, boiling her blood in the most delicious way. Cordelia's world shrunk then expanded into a million shining stars behind her eyes, she heard a cry echo around the room, the part of her brain that was still functioning on some cognitive level wondered who was screaming like a banshee then realised it was herself and shut down, just letting go.  
  
"Oh God...how do you....how do you do this to me every time?" Cordelia panted as she gradually came back to herself. "You make me forget my own name. It is Cordelia, right?" She grinned then somehow managed to turn over completely although her legs didn't feel as though they were attached to the rest of her, until her chest pressed against his, her shining eyes caught in his dark hungry gaze.  
  
"Oh my...." Cordelia whooped as Angel bounded out of the bath with her in his arms and stalked them both naked and running with water into the bedroom...  
  
***  
  
"OK, time out Angel. Any more talk of Cordelia naked and I'm going to say something that will get me into trouble. Again."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
*Cordelia.  
  
Such beauty.  
  
Such awe inspiring grace.  
  
So unbelievably flexible!*  
  
"Dudes got that weird look in his eyes again English. Angel? Hey man, quit thinking about that little sex kitten you're married to. Snap out of it!"  
  
"Huh....Oh. I'm back. Sorry guys..."  
  
"So...you and Cordy have a mind blowing sex life, you drive the woman wild blah blah blah. Good for you. Now tell us why Cordelia's mad at you."  
  
  
  
"Wesley..."  
  
"Angel."  
  
*He's worse then Cordelia when he does that. Damn English superior tone of voice.*  
  
"Is it about he whose name must not be said?"  
  
  
  
"No."  
  
  
  
"Are you sure."  
  
  
  
"Yes Gunn, I'm sure."  
  
"Cordy's told you to tell that story hasn't she, and you're stalling, hoping you'll find away to weedle out of it aren't you?"  
  
"I don't weedle. I avoid. Completely different."  
  
"We'll tattle on you if you don't tell it."  
  
"Some friends you guys are."  
  
  
  
"Spill."  
  
"C'mon dawg, I need a laugh."  
  
  
  
"It wasn't funny."  
  
"Not for you but the rest of us it was damn funny."  
  
"Fine."  
  
*I can't believe I'm being blackmailed into this.*  
  
"Just get on with it already."  
  
"Well if you didn't insist on interrupting me I might just."  
  
"Oooh. Someone's got their knickers in a twist."  
  
"Really Wesley, shut the hell up."  
  
*OK, so, this went down a few weeks ago. About three months after Cordy and I got married, she was about four months pregnant. She's five months pregnant now. Not that that's really important mind you, just letting you know of the time frame. I'm not stalling in any way. Really.  
  
Fine.*  
  
***  
  
There's never an apocalypse when you need one....  
  
A creature of the night should not be ordered to the market on the sunniest day of the year for croissants and olives, Angel was pretty sure of that. Especially when the store was out of olives and said creature of the nights wife had threatened various forms of torture that had made the vampires eyes water at the mere thought if he didn't come back with everything on the list. It almost made him wish for an apocalypse to divert attention from it. Nonetheless Angel stalked up the stairs from the basement, ready to face the firing squad that he would inevitably meet once his presence was known. It would be OK if their so called friends hadn't promptly taken the day off when they realised Cordelia was in one of her 'you even look at me and I'll poke your eyes out and pop them between my teeth' pregnancy moods. Not that they ever said that in front of the Pylean Princess, they weren't stupid.  
  
"Cordy?" Angel called out as he emerged from the basement door, glancing around the lobby then the office. Another parcel from Xander laid open on Cordelia's desk. Wonder Woman pyjamas this time, Emily adored her super hero pj's and Angel found himself hating Xander a little less with each thoughtful gift he sent his daughter. But only a little.  
  
When Angel had left earlier Cordelia had been frantically reorganising the filing cabinets for the two hundredth time, he frowned when he saw the files still scattered across the floor, she never left a job half done. She was strangely efficient in that way. Their friends called Angel a neat freak, they had no idea. Angel wandered down the corridor towards the kitchen without making a sound, it's not that he skulked on purpose, it was just a vampire thing. He stopped in his tracks when he heard the murmur of hushed voices coming from the kitchen, one female, his Cordy, and one male.....  
  
"What the...." Angel muttered under his breath. It couldn't be...why would Cordelia let him into their home....unless she was forced to.  
  
Dropping the bag of shopping and moving with a deadly speed that had brought many a minion of Lucifer to a brutal end Angel barged into the kitchen, snatching the unwanted visitor out of his seat and slamming him against the wall, not caring as glasses shook in the cabinets and Emily's drawings slipped from there home on the refrigerator to the floor.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Angel growled, his demon face millimetres from the Lawyer that had slowly tried to drive him insane.  
  
"Ugh..." Lindsey choked under the vampires steel grip around his throat, his vision blurring around the edges as Angel squeezed. Lifeless blood thundered in Angel's ears, anger and fear tasting bitter in his mouth as the million things this Southern bastard might have done to his woman and child fluttered through his brain. A rage so consuming Angel barely noticed the other occupants in the room.  
  
"I told you to never come back."  
  
"I...breathe...urghhh."  
  
  
  
"Spit it out Lindsey, c'mon man, where's that silver tongue of yours."  
  
"Cordel...."  
  
"Don't you fucking even say her name." Angel slammed Lindsey's head against the wall. Delighting as the lawyers eyes slammed shut in pain.  
  
"DAMMIT ANGEL PUT HIM DOWN!!" Cordelia's voice finally registered in his brain.  
  
"Go up stairs Cordy." Angel barked at her, his gaze never deviating from the man slowly turning blue in front of him.  
  
"He's not here to hurt us!"  
  
"Bull shit. It's all he knows how to do." Angel snarled, his teeth itching for the blood he could see pumping in the lawyers neck.  
  
"Pot...calling...kettle...black." Lindsey wheezed, pushing his luck just a little further. His fingers grasped at the vampire's hand to no avail. Things weren't looking good for him right now.  
  
"You should have stayed in what ever hick town you ran away to boy."  
  
"Missed the...sparkling conversation." His eyes watered, he could feel the sweet lull of unconsciousness just around the corner.  
  
"I wonder if I can squeeze your neck hard enough to make your head pop off." A deadly whisper borne of one hundred years without a soul.  
  
"Let go of Lindsey right the hell now! You're scaring Emily!" Cordelia hissed at him through the fog of his anger, rocking the too quiet child that had buried her face in to her mothers hair in fear.  
  
Angel dropped Lindsey instantly, not caring as he stumbled to the floor gasping for breath. As unneeded air filled his lungs as he tried to calm the demon, shaking away the ridges from his forehead.  
  
"For crap-sake Angel, think first choke to death later, remember." Cordelia muttered at him furiously, handing the vampire his daughter then moving to the coughing man on the floor.  
  
"Cordelia stay away from him dammit!" Angel was impotent to do anything with Emily in his arms.  
  
"Shut up Angel." She helped Lindsey to his feet and ushered him back into the chair he was unceremoniously yanked out of moments before.  
  
"He's..." He tried again.  
  
"An evil lawyer, one of Satan's toadies, yeah I know. I was there." Cordelia rolled her eyes in annoyance as she manhandled Lindsey's head, making sure there was no permanent damage.  
  
"You know, I haven't actually been evil for a long while Cordy." Lindsey grimaced when her fingers tested the knot that was forming on the back of his scalp.  
  
"Whatever." The Seer grunted then shot a glare at her husband who was too busy wondering why there were two mugs of tea on the table...and since when did Lawyer boy call his woman Cordy!  
  
"Cordelia....what the HELL is going on here?" Angel tried to keep his voice calm and even so as to not upset the girl in his arms, now that the shouting and violence had ceased she was back to her babbling self.  
  
"Not now Angel...I'll explain later."  
  
"Yes now, Chase! You're having tea with the man that tried to kill all of us at one time or another, I think that demands a freaking explanation!"  
  
"He doesn't know?" Lindsey frowned at her. Oh dear, things had just got decidedly worse for Satan's toadie. He was beginning to wish he'd stayed well away from Los Angeles.  
  
"Know what?!" Angels indignation was muffled by Emily pinching his cheek with her little chubby hands.  
  
"Look Angel, I had a vision, we need to deal with that first." Cordelia let go of Lindsay then dropped down into the chair next to him, her fingers rubbing at her temples. "There's a nest down by the pier...a group sorority girls a gonna wander in their in a few hours, you need to call Gunn and Wes, clean it out before the girls show up or there'll be a blood bath...."  
  
"Cordelia!!"  
  
"Please Angel! I can't...I can't think with this all in my head..." Her shoulders slumped as the massacre replayed over and over in her brain. "Please...just go do it."  
  
"There's no fucking way I'm leaving you alone here with him."  
  
"Angel...."  
  
"No. No way."  
  
"I'm a pissed off barefoot pregnant woman whose brain is about to dribble out of her ears, I'm very close to the edge right now Angel, if you don't get your ass out of here and to the pier I swear I'll divorce you, set you on fire then stake you, so help me God I will." Cordelia threatened the vampire, Angel swallowed heavily, shooting a death glare at that the lawyer that was smirking at him.  
  
Husband and wife glared at each other from opposite sides of the room, both unwilling to back down. The tension was palpable, Lindsey shifted nervously in his seat. He'd both seen and heard what these two were capable of doing when severely pissed off, his hand and the long hospital stay he'd heard his ex colleague had endured were proof enough. If there were anyone that was going to end up maimed it would most likely be him.  
  
"Please Angel." Cordelia felt the fight go out of her body, she was tired, hungry and her head felt as though it was splitting in two. The hitch in Cordelia's voice was Angel's undoing, he took a moment to look at his wife, her beautiful face was pale. The visions just kept on getting worse.  
  
"OK, Cordy. OK." Angel relented setting Emily down on the floor, letting her waddle on little legs over to her mothers lap. "But he's not staying here."  
  
"He won't..." She sighed.  
  
"It's fine, Cordelia. I have a few things I need to do any way." Lindsey said quickly slipping on this leather jacket, Angel growled when the lawyer smiled at her then squeezed her hand affectionately. The growl almost turned to a bark when Cordelia smiled back. There was so much wrong with this Angel didn't know where to start.  
  
"I'll come back a little later." Lindsey edged around the snarling vampire.  
  
"Yeah, you really won't." Angel scowled as Lindsey moved passed him and out of the kitchen. They heard the front door open and close quietly as he left the hotel.  
  
"Why are you still here? Go. Helpless need saving." Cordelia waved her hands at him in exasperation.  
  
"When I get back I want an explanation as to why you're all cosy with the lawyer boy and don't even think about letting that bastard back in when I'm not here." Angel pulled out his cell phone ready to call the rest of the team. He moved over to her side of the room, even if he was angry Angel had to make sure she was OK.  
  
"Whatever. Will you just go already!" Cordelia's eyes flashed at him but softened when he smoothed her hair away from her face, his thumb stroking her forehead tenderly.  
  
"Will you be all right on your own, do you want me to ask Fred to come over?"  
  
"I'll call her in a minute. I'll be fine as soon as you kill the bad guys...." She smiled weakly at him. Standing up she pressed a distracted kiss to his cheek before she hoisted Emily up into her arms. "We're gonna go have a lie down. Be careful."  
  
Angel listened as her bare feet slapped against the floor as she made her way up stairs to their room. Tugging a hand through his hair the vampire pressed speed dial for Gunn's number while he stalked back down into the basement. The sooner they did this the sooner he could get back and find out what the hell was going on with his wife and the lawyer.  
  
***  
  
Her green eyed boy.  
  
Raiding a vampire nest in the late afternoon sun wasn't as difficult as it sounded, they weren't going anywhere for a start. The problem came when you considered the fact that the Powers That Be's champion was a vampire himself. The most dangerous part of the raid was getting Angel from the shade of the car into the nest. Once they had accomplished that it was a piece of cake. In and out in twenty minutes. Charles Gunn and Wesley Wyndam Pryce were quite proud of that fact, they'd yipped and cheered and did that knuckle bumping thing they insisted on doing for most of the journey back to the Hotel. By the time they pulled up outside the Hyperion Angel was ready to snap both of their necks.  
  
"Dude what is up with you?" Gunn asked the vampire as he barely withheld the growl that rumbled in his chest for the sixtieth time since they'd met up with Angel near the pier. "Trouble in paradise?" The black man cocked an eyebrow at him.  
  
"No more than usual." Angel muttered wrapping the thick blanket around him then darting out of the car towards the Hotel.  
  
"Should we...?" Gunn nodded his head towards the Hyperion.  
  
"Yeah, we'd better." Wesley frowned. Angel had been more 'grr' than usual during the fight, you didn't have to be a genius to figure out something was going on. They trusted Angel but both had sworn to protect the women in their lives no matter what and the last time they'd seen the vampire so pissed off and distracted a roomful of lawyers had come to a very bloody end.  
  
When the two friends entered the Hotel the scene that met them was the last thing they expected to see.  
  
"A little help here please!!" Fred shouted at them from where she was desperately struggling to keep the vampire away from Lindsay MacDonald, who was being shielded by Cordelia. If they'd had a moment to think about the scene they probably would have thought it was quite funny, Winifred Burkle, resident Physicist whose best fighting skill was sneaking up on the bad guy from behind with something heavy, trying with all her might to block the path of Angelus, the Scourge of Europe. They would have laughed at the way her feet slid across the floor backwards as she pushed her hands against Angel's immovable chest to no avail.  
  
But the way Angel was snarling in full game face rid the scene of any humour.  
  
"GUYS!!" Fred yelped again. In an instant both Gunn and Wesley were at her side, holding the vampire back.  
  
"Get away from my child!" Angel's brain had shut down as soon as he'd stumbled slightly smoking into the hotel and seen his wife sitting next to Lindsey McDonald on the lobby sofa, the lawyer jiggling his laughing daughter on his knees.  
  
"Angel will you please calm down." The Seer entreated her vampire.  
  
"Get Emily away from him Cordelia!" Angel stare was glued to the man still holding his daughter. Cordelia gave Lindsey and apologetic smile then plucked the little girl out of his lap and placed her on to her play mat with her toys. Angel finally calmed down when his daughter was no longer with in Lindsey's reach.  
  
"She's fine Angel, he's really not here to hurt us." Cordelia shooed Gunn and Wesley away, placing a hand on his chest that would usually calm him. She swallowed heavily when his still angry eyes met hers.  
  
"Maybe you'd like to tell me what's going on between you and Lindsey before I pull off his arms and beat him to death with them." Angel whispered dangerously low to her.  
  
"He's here because I invited him here." Cordelia pursed her lips not backing down. She really wished they didn't have an audience right now.  
  
"I'm sorry I must have gone momentarily insane because I could have sworn you said you invited him here." Angel snapped at her.  
  
"You heard right dumbass, he needs our help, Wolfram and Hart are playing their games again and we're the only ones that can deal with them."  
  
"It's his mess, he can deal with it. I really couldn't care less who he's pissed off. Get out of my house." Angel barked at Lindsey.  
  
"Hey, I don't need your help vampire, I just came to see Cordy." The lawyer bit back.  
  
"Stop calling her that!"  
  
"I'll call her whatever the hell I want!"  
  
"Do you actually have a death wish?"  
  
"Your homicidal threats start to get meaningless after a while Angel cos look, I'm still alive. Unlike some people here."  
  
"Well I could rectify that right now if you like."  
  
"Give it your best shot."  
  
"Will both of you shut up!!!" Fred shouted at them, surprising herself more than any one else in the room. "This is getting us nowhere and you're even making me crazy! Angel, Lorne read Lindsey, he's on the level. Lindsay, stop goading Angel, you piss him off enough and you'll lose more than your hand this time." She warned them, her face flushed pink. Gunn slung his arm around her small shoulders, chest puffed out proudly that his girlfriend was the one to bring order back to the room.  
  
"My girl rules!" Gunn grinned like an idiot.  
  
"Wow...I think I'm in love..." Lindsey forgot about the growling vampire in front of him and appreciated the beauty that was Winifred Burkle, she blushed when Lindsey grinned at her.  
  
"Back off dawg." Gunn stepped protectively in front of her, blocking his girl from the charming Lawyer.  
  
"Oh for crapsake can we finish the overt displays of testosterone already, everyone here has very big balls, well done. You should all be very proud." Cordelia muttered with exasperation. The pain was in her head was lessening to a dull ache but this pissing contest was twisting her last nerve.  
  
"He's on the level?" Angel asked unconvinced.  
  
"'Fraid so Angelcakes." Lorne wandered in sipping something pink and decidedly fruity looking. He'd decided to hunker down in the kitchen until the shouting had finished but he was getting bored. "And it looks like we're going to need him just as much as he needs us. Time to kiss and make up fellas, there's tough times ahead." He said cryptically. A tense silence filled the lobby, only broken by the sweet sound of Emily talking to her latest favourite toy.  
  
"Well now, I didn't mean to bring every one down with the doom and gloom. It's not like there's an apocalypse due tomorrow or anything, hell not even this year. I'm just letting you kids know you shouldn't get complacent. I know we're all fuzzy with the love and baby sweetness....and that's good. But lets not lose sight of the mission."  
  
"Lorne it's kinda difficult to lose sight of the damn mission when the PTB send you mind splintering visions. The mission is glaringly apparent thank you very much and I don't need you reminding me of my responsibilities." The young woman snapped at him making the prescient demon wince. He should have stayed in the kitchen.  
  
"We need to talk. Fred, watch Em. Keep idiot boy away from her." Angel grabbed Cordelia's hand and marched her across the lobby and up the stairs, not saying a word until they were in their bedroom with the door firmly shut.  
  
"Angel...."  
  
  
  
"Are you having an affair with Lindsey?" The vampire asked her bluntly. It was the one thing he couldn't shake from his mind, the hand touching, the smiles, the fact that Cordelia didn't seem to care that the man had tried to kill them repeatedly. You know, the little things.  
  
"What?!" Cordelia snorted with surprise, laughter bubbling out of her mouth before she could stop it.  
  
"Are you?" He stood his ground even though he was starting to feel foolish at the way his wife was laughing at him but wouldn't be deterred.  
  
"No! Of course I'm not you big dork." She carried on chuckling at him, the pain in her head forgotten, she sat down heavily on the bed, her shoulders shaking with soft laughter. "Honestly Angel...you're such a boy at times."  
  
"Then what's with all the touching and the hushed voices and why the hell did you invite him here?"  
  
"OK, we've been through this sweetheart, he needs our help..."  
  
"Fine. We'll help him. Whatever. That doesn't explain the touching."  
  
"It's good to see you're focusing on the important issues here." Cordelia rolled her eyes.  
  
"You're avoiding answering me. If you're having an affair Cordy...."  
  
"For heaven sake Angel I'm not having an affair! And quite frankly it's starting to piss me off that you think I would. In case you haven't noticed I'm married to you AND having your second child." She gestured to her increasingly prominent bump. "And of course there's the fact that I'm in LOVE with you! Although I'm having trouble remembering why right now." Cordelia glowered at him until he joined her on the bed. He felt like the idiot people kept insisting he was, of course Cordelia wasn't having an affair with Lindsey, he was a fool to even think it.  
  
"I'm an idiot." Angel offered her an apologetic lopsided smile.  
  
"Yes, you are." Cordelia sighed, she wanted to be mad at him but the way he was rubbing the small of her back made it very difficult. "But you're freakily good at that so I guess I'll keep you around for a while." Her head rested on his strong shoulder, she felt the tension start to drain out of body.  
  
"How are you feeling?" He pressed a kiss into her hair affectionately.  
  
"Better, the visions really aren't the laugh riot they use to be."  
  
"They're too much Cordy.."  
  
"I know sweetheart, I know." She wearily stopped him from finishing his sentence, she didn't want to think about her ever debilitating visions right now. "Do you promise not to kill Lindsey then?" She changed the subject quickly.  
  
"If I have to.....So, you two are suddenly friends then huh?" He couldn't help the edge that slipped into his voice. There was still something off about the whole situation and it was killing Angel not knowing.  
  
"Um...yeah..about that Angel....do you promise not to get mad?" Biting her lip she asked him carefully.  
  
"Cordelia..." He said the voice that meant 'woman have you done now?'  
  
"Do you promise?"  
  
  
  
"Fine, I promise."  
  
"I've been in contact with him for a while now, emails, letters, I thought it was best to keep tabs on him, make sure he was still on the straight and narrow."  
  
"OK."  
  
"That's not all."  
  
"I had a feeling you were going to say that."  
  
"I accidentally slept with him when you were going through your beige period, it meant nothing, less then nothing, not that it matters though because it was ages before we were even together. It was a one time thing, I was depressed, he was depressed, not a happy time for anyone. You came back to us and he went away and I barely even thought about it, I should have told you I know but hello! You weren't exactly Mr truthful about Darla were you?" Cordelia ran out of breath. Angel was worryingly silent. "Angel? Blink if you heard me."  
  
"The bastard's dead." The vampire growled and vaulted from the bed and out of the room before she could stop him.  
  
"Oh Shit." Cordelia muttered and followed his trail of dust.  
  
***  
  
"I believe you showed admirable restraint by not snapping Lindsey's neck there and then Angel."  
  
"That would mean more to me if you weren't laughing right now ya' know Wes."  
  
"Sorry....it's just....the look on you're face when Fred started screaming at you to get off Lindsey was priceless."  
  
"Who would of thought someone so small could punch quite so hard."  
  
*It was so embarrassing being knocked to the floor by a tiny little waif of a woman. She's stronger than she looks, no wonder Gunn keeps on her good side.  
  
There's no way I'm telling you about what else happened that afternoon in the lobby, lets just say I ended up with a bloody lip and relegated to the sofa for three nights.  
  
I can't really be mad at Cordy for sleeping with Lindsay way back then, we weren't together, it's in the past. I wish she'd told me of course but there's not much I can do about it no is there? A mistake. Nothing. I'm the one she loves, I'm the one she married. I have nothing to be jealous about.  
  
I'm being very rational about it aren't I?  
  
Truth is it takes all my control not to separate his head from his shoulders. They're 'friends' now. Friends! Honestly...that woman drives me insane! How can you be friends with some one that tried to kill you.  
  
Yes, I'm aware of the irony of me saying that when the woman I'm married to was on my people to kill list in Sunnydale, but that's different. I didn't have a soul. What was Lindsay's excuse?  
  
Cordy says he's changed for real this time. I guess time will tell.  
  
I don't like him. I don't like Cordy spending time with him. If he ever tries anything I'll kill him....slowly.*  
  
"Seriously Angel, if I found out Faith had slept with him and she didn't tell me about it I'd probably react the same way."  
  
  
  
"Katherine."  
  
"What?"  
  
  
  
"You said Faith, English. You meant Katherine."  
  
"I...Oh. Right, Katherine. My girlfriend Katherine."  
  
*Well this is awkward. I should throw the guy a bone, he is a friend after all.*  
  
"It was about the visions."  
  
  
  
"Huh?"  
  
  
  
"Why Cordy stormed out of here. It was about her visions. I told her we'd found a way to stop them hurting her."  
  
  
  
"Why did she storm out after hearing that?"  
  
  
  
"Because I didn't get as far as telling her she didn't have to get rid of them before she freaked and started shouting at me."  
  
"Oh dear."  
  
  
  
"Yeah...But at least I can act all superior when she comes home."  
  
  
  
"Always a silver lining dude."  
  
"The amount you two argue it amazes me that the pair of you are actually together."  
  
  
  
"It's healthy for two people in love to argue otherwise our frustrations would materialise in other ways."  
  
"OK, no more Dr Phil for the vampire."  
  
*There you go then, another glimpse into the insanity that is our lives. It's not all apocalyptic doom and gloom and it's not all sweetness and light. We argue and fight, grieve and cry, laugh and love. If we didn't have that sort of shit along the way it wouldn't be worth it. There's so many tough times up ahead for all of us but in the end it's worth it.  
  
It's life.  
  
The best we can make of it.  
  
And it will do me fine.*  
  
"(cough)Pussy(cough)"  
  
the end. 


End file.
